San Jose police auditor proposes new way to handle public complaints

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LaDoris Hazzard Cordell speaks during her introduction as the new Independent Police Auditor by the San Jose City Council during a press conference at City Hall in San Jose on April 13, 2010. Cordell is a former Superior and Municipal Court Judge. (Gary Reyes/Mercury News)

LaDoris Hazzard Cordell speaks after being introduced by Mayor Chuck Reed (l) as the new Independent Police Auditor by the San Jose City Council during a press conference at City Hall in San Jose on April 13, 2010. Cordell is a former Superior and Municipal Court Judge. (Gary Reyes/Mercury News)

Say a San Jose cop scolds you for jaywalking or berates you outside of a bar. You feel disrespected.

What do you do?

Independent Police Auditor LaDoris Cordell is proposing a plan that would offer a face-to-face meeting — handshakes, apologies all around and perhaps a greater understanding between police and the public.

Instead of months-long, secretive and expensive investigations, complaints of rude conduct could be mediated by retired judges, if both officer and complainant agree. Think of it as a bit like the cold beer President Barack Obama arranged between Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and the officer who arrested Gates for breaking into what turned out to be his own home.

Cordell suggests the idea of simply talking out the problem in front of a neutral party could resolve dozens of complaints a year, leave both resident and officer more satisfied and cut down on city expenses and litigation.

“If you get the people to the table because they want to be there, then amazing things can happen,” said Cordell, who pitched the idea to police, Mayor Chuck Reed and some City Council members this week.

She added: “One of my goals for this office is to be instrumental in bringing good will and stronger trust between the people and the San Jose Police Department because it’s not anywhere as strong as it could be.”

Cordell’s concept, which she says could one day grow to encompass more serious complaints, is based on a growing police oversight model in the U.S. Similar programs are used in San Francisco, Denver, New York City and Washington, D.C.

“I like to say it’s a win-win-win situation,” said Phil Eure, president of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement. He heads the police oversight agency in Washington, D.C., where a program using paid mediators resolves about 9 percent of such complaints each year.

Currently, complaints about rude San Jose officers are probed by the Police Department’s Internal Affairs unit.

Even if they don’t result in discipline, complaints may have negative consequences for an officer seeking promotions or transfers to specialized units. Meanwhile, it’s difficult for a community member to find out the outcome of an investigation.

Although finer details have yet to be announced, Cordell’s plan would offer residents and police a chance to air their disputes in front of retired Santa Clara County judges recruited to guide the sessions for free. Cordell is a retired judge herself and says she’s confident she could persuade her former colleagues to sign up.

Initial reaction to Cordell’s plan has been mostly positive, including from the police officers union and department brass.

“We would be more than supportive to give her the opportunity to try it,” Police Chief Rob Davis said. “The key to success would be to create an environment where both parties felt there was objectivity in the meeting and that there was a chance to learn from the experience.”

Police already have a mediation plan in place, but it utilizes paid mediators and is rarely used.

Community activists, some of whom believe that officers for years have systemically busted people simply for their attitudes, said the idea has promise.

Raj Jayadev, of Silicon Valley De-Bug, said he was “willing to explore the idea.” But he worried that if the approach let officers off the hook too easily, it would take away an important incentive for professional behavior.

“Maybe an officer feels that they can be rude and say an apology and shake this guy’s hand and that’s all there is to it,” Jayadev said. “There needs to be a bright line that officers know they cannot cross.”

Angel Luna, a 26-year-old San Jose man who filed a rudeness complaint last year after an officer stopped him for jaywalking, said he supported the idea of mediation.

“I still would be in favor of talking to the officer,” he said.

The police auditor’s office is struggling to regain public trust as it investigates whether an employee leaked confidential information about citizen complaints to Sgt. Bobby Lopez, then-president of the police officers union.

Cordell has promised to release the results of that investigation when it is complete, most likely this week.

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